The objective of the research supported by this grant is to understand the relationship between metabolic pathways in corneal epithelium, as well as possible metabolic relationships between the different layers of the cornea. Methods utilized are incubation of whole cornea or eye and incubation of homogenates of the layers of interest - principally the epithelium. Comparison of the extent of incorporation of different radioactive precursors into end-products is the principal method of investigation.